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Vatican Is Graded on Financial Transparency

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican got a report card Wednesday on its efforts to be more financially transparent — but it remains a secret for now.

A committee of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, adopted a report by independent inspectors examining the Vatican’s efforts to comply with international standards to fight money laundering and the financing of terrorists.

The evaluators made a preliminary report, and during a meeting on Wednesday of the panel, known as the Moneyval committee, it was amended by governments represented on the committee, as often occurs.

But neither the Vatican nor the Council of Europe would disclose the results, saying that the committee’s procedures forbid it. The full report will be released in about a month.

The Vatican submitted to the evaluation process in a bid to shed its image as a financially shady tax haven. Since then, it has written and rewritten a law criminalizing money laundering, created a financial watchdog agency and ratified three anti-crime United Nations treaties.

The measures are intended to comply with recommendations of the financial action task force, which is based in Paris and helps develop measures to combat financial crimes.